Combined brake and take-up mechanism for trolleys.



No. 796,295. HPATENTED AUG. 1,1905.

7 H. B. CLARKE, v

COMBINED BRAKE AND TAKE-UP MECHANISM FOR'TROLLEYS APPLICATION FILED JULY9,1904.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

. No. 796,295- PATENTED AUG. 1, 1905.

H. B. CLARKE. COMBINED 'BRAKBAND TAKE-UP MECHANISM FOR TROLLEYS.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 9, 1904. I

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

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PATBNTED AUGQl, 1905.,

IH.'I'B.GLARKE{. I COMBINED BRAKE AND TAKE-UP MECHANISM'LFOR'TROLLEYS.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 9. 1904.

'3 SHEETS-SHEET s.

y I, 7% 1W v I I 7/ v N w UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HENRY B. CLARKE, on CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

COMBINED BRAKE AND TAKE-UP MECHANISM FOR TROLLEY S- Specification ofLetters Patent.

Application filed July 9, 1904. Serial No. 215,961.

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, H ENRY B. CLARKE, a citizen of the United States,residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, havein vented certain new and useful Improvements in a Combined Brake andTake-Up Mechanism for Trolleys, of which the following is aspecification.

Th1s Invention relates to Improvements In combined brake and take-upmechanisms for trolleysg' and it has for its salient objects to providea mechanism wherein a sudden paying out of the trolley-cord eifected bythe trolley jumping from the trolley-wire will result in automaticallybringing into operation an auxiliary source of power which will lock thecontrolling mechanism against further movement and prevent the rising ofthe trolley to such extent as to endanger the crosswires and overheadsupports of the trolleywire; to provide a construction in which a suddendrawing-out movement of the trolleycord brings about the operation ofthe automatic brake, while the comparatively uniform give-and-takemovement of the cord does not affect the brake; to provide aconstruction in which the locking of the brake is effected through afluid pressure-actuated device, thereby avoiding the use of ratchets andother non-yielding mechanisms and. avoiding the breakage incident tosudden shocks upon the mechanism; to provide in combination'with amechanism of the character last referred to an audible signaling device,which notifies both the motorman and the conductor that the trolley hasleft the wire, and at the same time said audible signal mechanism ismade to serve the purpose of a vent, which permits the ready return ofthe actuating mechanism to normal position; to provide in an automaticbrake mechanism of the character referred to abandbrake and actuatingmechanism which will operate to lock the paying-out drum inci reduced toaminimum, and in general to provide a simple and improved mechanism ofthe character referred to.

To the above ends the invention consists in the matters hereinafterdescribed, and more particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

The invention will be readily understood from the following description,reference be ing had to the accompanying drawings, in which- I Figure 1is aview in front elevation of a pre ferred embodiment of the invention.Fig. 2 is a view in side elevation of the device. F igfi3 shows edge andside views of the band-brake. Fig. 4 shows edge and'side views of thebrake actuating lever. Fig. 5 is a detail sectional view of thefluid-pressure cylinders and connected parts. Fig. 6 is a top plan viewof the parts shown in Fig. 5. Figs. 7, 8, and 9 are details of thepiston-valve which controls the flow of the air to the main cylinder,Fig. 7 be- .ingan axial sectional view,Fig.' 8 an end view,

and Fig. 9 a cross-sectional view, on line 9 9 of Fig. 7 lookingdownwardly. 1

Referring to the drawings, 1 designates as a whole a suitablebracket-like mainframe adapted to be secured to the platform-fender ofthe car or other suitable support and provided with parallel outstandingbrackets, as 2 2 and 3 3, between which are journaled a main drum 4: anda controlling-drum 5.

Upon the upper portion of themain frame and arranged to extendtransversely above the main drum 4 is pivotally mounted acontrolling-lever 6. 7 designates the main trolley-cord, which is at itslower end coiled several times around the main drum and secured thereto,as indicated at 8, the cord being arranged fromjthe drum upward to andaround a guide-pulley9 upon the lever 6, thence along the lever ashortdistance upwardly between a pair of guid e-pulleys-lO 10 and to thetrolley-pole overhead and not shown. The controlling-drum5 is arrangedto normally exert a winding-up tension of the main drum 5, and to thisend a relatively large gear 11 is mounted concentrically'uponand rigidwith the controlling-drum 5, which gear meshes with a correspondingpinion 12, rigid upon the shaft of the drum 4. The controlling-drumcarries a cord 13, coiled thereon and carrying at its lower end a weightl i, which is of such size as to exert a proper winding-up tension onthe main drum 4. I

Describing now the brake mechanism, upon one end of the main drum 4; isformed a band-groove 15, around which is arranged a band brake-strap 16,having its two ends connected with a T lever 17, which is mounted uponthe main frame, as indicated clearly in Figs. 1 and 2, at a pointimmediately above the drum. The end of the longer arm of the PatentedAug. 1, 1905.

T-lever is connected with the stem 18 on a drum-piston 19, arrangedwithin the air-cylinder 20, suitably mounted in vertical position uponthe main frame. The upper end of the cylinder 20 communicates, throughan inlet-passage 21, with the interior of avalvechamber 22, within whichis arranged to reciprocate a slide-valve 23. The valve-chamber 22 isarranged vertically beneath theeontrolling-lever 6 and at a pointbetween the fulcrum 6 of said lever and its outer end, which carries thetrolley-cord, as indicated clearly in Fig. l. The slide-valve 23 isprovided with a stem 24, which extends upwardly and out through suitablegland members 25 26 and connects at its upper end with a link 27,adjustably mounted upon thelever 6. The link 27 is longitudinallyslotted, as indicated at 28, and carries within said slot a block 29,which is slidable up and down within the slot, its extent of movementbeing limited by a screw 30, engaging the block and at its upper endthreaded within the upper end of the link, said block being providedwith a thumbscrew 31, which extends into the lever- 6.

The lower end of the valve-casing 22 is provided with an inlet-nipple33, with which is connected a pipe 34, leading to any suitable source ofair-supply, usually, of course, the air-brake mechanism of the car. Theslidevalve 23 is so constructed as to be balanced, and to this end saidvalve consists of two hollow cylindric shell members 35 and 36, open attheir outer ends and connected with each other by means of a solidintegral portion 37, which is desirably of cross shape in crosssection,as seen clearly in Fig. 9. An annular interruption between the twocylindric shell members 35 and 36 thus forms an outlet from the interiorof the piston to the passage 21, leading to the main cylinder, when theslide-valve is brought into register with said passage. The upper endofthe slidevalve is of skeleton construction and is provided with athreaded socket 38 for connection with the stem 24.

As an auxiliary feature I provide a whistle which is arranged tocommunicate with the main cylinder and is brought into action when thepiston 19 of the latter is forced downwardly far enough to throw thebrake into operation. have shown the cylinder 20 as provided with abranch pipe 39, which communicates with the cylinder at a point a shortdistance below the normal position of the upper end of the piston 19,the outer end of said pipe carrying an ordinary steam or air whistle 40.With this arrangement of parts the piston 19 obviously acts as a valve,which opens or closes the whistle-pipe, depending upon the position ofthe piston.

In order to normally hold the brake free from frictional engagement withthe brake- In the present instance I.

wheel and to hold the main piston 19 at its normal or uppermost limit ofmovement, a coiled contractile spring 41 is arranged to connect thelonger arm of the T-lever 17 with an overhanging bracket 42, carried bythe cylinder 20.

In order that the lever 6 shall not be lifted in the ordinary operationof the trolley by the gradual rise and fall of the trolley-pole ridingin engagement with the trolley-wire. the said lever is weighted and theweight 43 thereof is conveniently mounted upon an extension 44 upon theswinging end of the lever. said extension being made of uniformdiameter, so that the weight may be adjusted therealong.

The operation of the mechanism constructed and arranged as described isprobably entirely obvious, but may be briefly described as follows: Theweight 14 will be so selected as to take up the slack of thetrolley-cord promptly, but nevertheless will not be heavy enough tocause the weighted lever 6 to rise far enough to bring thebrake-actuating mechanism into operation, except under the action of asudden increased pull or jerk, such as results when the trolley-wheeljumps the wire. In other words, the weight 43 of the lever 6 will beadjusted so as to counterbalance the weight 14 and normally hold thelever 6 down. If now the trolley-wheel jumps the wire. the sudden pullon the trolley-cord lifts the end of the lever a substantial distancebefore the inertia of the weight 14 is overcome, and this sudden liftingof the lever opens the slidevalve, admits fluid-pressure to the top ofthe cylinder 20, and thus throws the brake into engagement with thewinding-drum. This braking operation takes place before the winding-drumrotates to any considerable extent under the sudden pull of thetrolley-cord, and the brake-strap grips the drum hard enough to preventthe drum from moving appreciably after the brake is applied. It followsthat the trolley-pole will rise only a limited distance necessary toslightly raise the controlling-lever before the brake is applied andfurther paying-out of the cord prevented. The forcing downward of thepiston 19 to apply the brake opens the wheel-pipe-and sounds thewhistle, thereby notifying the conductor that the trolley is off andrequires to be replaced.

While I have herein shown and described what I deem to be a preferredembodiment of my invention, yet it will be obvious that the details ofconstruction and arrangement may be modified without in any sensedeparting from the invention, and it will also be understood thatcertain features of the invention are capable of practical use as anoperative structure without employing the entire combination described.Accordingly I do not wish to be understood as limiting myself to thedetails of construction and arrangementshown except to the extent thatthey are made the subject of specific claims.

I claim as my invention- 1. A brake and take-up mechanism for trolleyscomprising a winding-drum, a control-' ling-lever, a trolley-cordoperatively connected with the winding-drum and passing through guidesupon the lever located at a point remote from the fulcrum of the lever,a brake mechanism adapted to control the rotation of said winding drum,a source of auxiliary power arranged to operate said brake mechanism,and means actuated by said lever controlling the application of saidauxiliary power to the brake mechanism.

2. In a brake and take-up mechanism, the combination of an automatictake-up device, a trolley-cord connected with said take-up device, acontrolling-lever operatively connected with said cord and arranged tohold the latter'flexed out of a direct line of draft from the take-updevice to the trolley, a bandbrake wheel, a band-brake mountedinoperative relation thereto, and operative connectionsbetween saidcontrolling-lever and bandbrake whereby a sudden increased draft on thetrolley-cord moves the lever and brings the brake into operation.

3. In a brake and take-up mechanism, the combination of a winding-drum,a gravity-actuated controlling-drum geared to said winding-drum, acontrolling-lever, a trolley-cordconnected with the winding-drum and.operatively engaging said lever, a brake-mechanism arranged to controlthe winding-drum and operative connections between the controlling-leverand brake mechanism.

4. In a mechanism of the character described, the combination of apower-driven winding-drum, a brake arranged to control saidwinding-drum, a fluid-pressure mechanism comprising a cylinder and apiston relatively connected with the brake mechanism, a source offluid-pressure, a trolley-cord operatively connected with thewinding-drum and trolley, and means operated by said trolley-cord andcontrolling the admission of fluidpressure to said cylinder.

5. In a mechanism of the character described, the combination of awinding-drum, a brake mechanism controlling said windingwinding-drum, abrake-lever connected with said band-brake, a fluid-pressure cylinder, apiston in said cylinder, operative connections between said piston andbrake-lever, a valve arranged to control the admission of pressure tosaid cylinder, a controlling-lever, operative connections between saidcontrolling-lever and admission-valve, a trolley-cord operativelyconnected with the winding-drum and controlling-lever, and a springnormally holding the brake mechanism out of operation.

7. A brake and take-up mechanism, comprising a take-up device, a cordoperatively connected therewith, a brake arranged to control saidtake-up device, a fluid-pressure cylinder and piston arranged to operatesaid brake, an admission-valve, means operatively connected with thecordfor operating said admission-valve, and an annunciator operativelyconnected with the fluid-pressure mechanism.

8. A combined brake and take-up mechanism, comprising a mainwinding-drum, a gravity-actuated controlling-drum geared to saidwinding-drum, a controlling-lever fulcrumed at one end, a trolley-cordconnected with the winding-drum and with the swinging end of the lever,a band-brake arranged to act upon said winding-drum, fluid-pressurecylinder, a piston in said cylinder operatively connected with saidband-brake mechanism, a valve-oasing communicating with said cylinder,aslidevalve therein, operative connections between said slide-valveand'the controlling-lever, and a spring arranged to normally hold thebrake out of operative position and the piston of the fluid-pressurecylinder retracted.

HENRY B. CLARKE. Witnesses: ALBERT H. GRAvEs, -L. F. MoOREA.

